Admittedly, this isn't the kind of book I'd usually go for. I tend to lean towards fantasy or high-concept escapism, rather than books dealing with real-world problems. However, I'm glad I gave this one a try.

The book is written from the perspective of a young man dealing with grief induced schizophrenia. I've never before read any account of mental illness which seems so believable and relatable. Mental illness is a tricky thing to portray from an outside perspective, let alone an internal one, and the Author's experience as a mental health nurse really shows here.

At the same time, the book is also very well written and poetic. The author frequently conjures such beautiful and poignant imagery that I wish I could copy entire chapters into this review as examples, but unfortunately you'll just have to take my inadequate word for it and find out for yourself.

The book also avoided leaving me worn out or depressed, as books about 'real life' often do. In fact, I came away from this book feeling uplifted, and that I'd gained some sort of new insight and understanding into mental illness.

Overall 'The Shock of the Fall' was a great experience, and a great encouragement for me to leave my reading comfort zone every once in a while.